A mother in England has admitted to giving her 7-year-old son a “large dose of morphine” to “quietly end his life” amid his stage 4 cancer diagnosis.
While speaking to BBC Radio Oxford about wanting to change the U.K. law on assisted dying, Antonya Cooper, 77, recalled wanting to ease her son Hamish’s pain over 40 years ago in 1981.
The youngster was five years old when he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma and was initially given just three months to live, the BBC reported.
Per the World Health Organization, neuroblastoma is one of the most common types of cancer among children. It develops from immature nerve cells commonly found near the adrenal glands and can also appear in the kidneys, chest, neck and spine, per the Mayo Clinic.
Hamish ended up having 16 months of cancer treatment at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, but this left him in “a lot of pain.”
Cooper, from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, shared, “On Hamish’s last night, when he said he was in a lot of pain, I said, ‘Would you like me to remove the pain?’ and he said, ‘Yes please, mama.’ “
“And through his Hickman Catheter, I gave him a large dose of morphine that did quietly end his life,” Cooper, who is terminally ill herself, added.
It is currently illegal in England to assist or encourage another person to end their life, per the U.K. parliament’s website.
Thames Valley Police said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE that they are “aware of reports relating to an apparent case of assisted dying of a seven-year-old boy, in 1981.”
“At this early stage, the force is making enquiries into these reports and is not in a position to comment further while these investigations continue,” the statement added.
During her interview with the radio station, Cooper said “Yes,” when questioned whether she knew that she was potentially admitting to manslaughter or murder.
“If they come 43 years after I have allowed Hamish to die peacefully, then I would have to face the consequences. But they would have to be quick, because I’m dying too,” she said, according to the BBC.
Per The Times, Cooper has been diagnosed with breast and pancreatic cancer. The disease has also spread to her liver, the outlet reported.
Cooper added of whether she thought Hamish knew she was going to end his life, “I feel very strongly that at the point of Hamish telling me he was in pain, and asking me if I could remove his pain, he knew, he knew somewhere what was going to happen,” the BBC reported.
“But I cannot obviously tell you why or how, but I was his mother, he loved his mother, and I totally loved him, and I was not going to let him suffer, and I feel he really knew where he was going,” she continued.
Cooper insisted, “It was the right thing to do. My son was facing the most horrendous suffering and intense pain, I was not going to allow him to go through that.”
“We don’t do it to our pets. Why should we do it to humans?” she later asked.
Per The Times, Cooper — who went on to have four more children — helped launch the charity Neuroblastoma U.K. following Hamish’s death.
“40 years ago, in 1982, a group of bereaved parents came together and formed The Neuroblastoma Society. Following the loss of their sons, Matthew Oldridge and Hamish Cooper, they wanted to help other children and families experiencing neuroblastoma,” a message on the website states.
